Be all you can be!

[Outback Jess]

Last night there was a dinner at our church. We are a very comtemporary people group...young and old, hip and groovy....if you know what I mean. I was there in my jeans, my size 6 jeans....The word is getting out that I am doing a triathalon....my training partner and originator of the whole idea also goes to church there...We went to a leaders dinner and a senior level woman spoke...she is from Australia...and it was fresh and vibrant and she was really speaking on leading a vibrant life...

People say I am re-inventing myself at 50....that's a common phrase...But I think I've just found my old natural self underneath all that fat, inactivity and basic poor health...and fitness.
I think I've found the old me, the young me, who bounds up in the morning looking for life...who really does enjoy a Sunrise, either at the beach or coming up over the trees, while biking....I am someone who loves the wind in my hair and cool crisp mornings on a bike...or jogging....or swimming.

I didnt reinvent me, I just found me....she was under the fat, the unhappiness, the lethergy....she was snowed on sugars and alcohols...she was fuzzy headed and confused and didn't believe....

I found the real me who loves life, and activity....She is right here and I've re-engaged with her....
Some of you will find hidden athletes, but others might find the surpressed poet, or painter....The scrapbooker, the dreamer, the creative one....
some of you might find yourself for the first time...How amazing would that be...How absolutely amazing your life can be now...
It will take hard work to find yourself, and time to develop...
As you eat right, drink water and get active it's all for bigger purposes...Don't keep it small, and just focus on the scale, make it big, look out from where you are to all you can be!

[meena-beena]

Re: Be all you can be!

I love people who have this outlook on life! I don't meet many of them. I consider myself to be one who looks at the broad picture. I like to think in terms of a few months/years from now and where I hope to be. I aim for that and try like mad to keep my focus. I think that's why the numbers on the scale don't really matter all that much. Whether I lose 2 pound a week or 10, the weight will come off regardless.

Still, I can only wonder at the type of things I'll enjoy when I get to goal (or a smaller size). I'm very introverted and going out to enjoy new experiences still frightens me. I do plan on getting out of my comfort zone however and I'm starting small, always with that big picture in mind.

It will happen--there is no wavering in that. I'll do my best and leave the rest to the powers that be!

[partytrouble]

Re: Be all you can be!

jess,
i really appreciate this post. i am struggling right now more with being frustrated with lack of loss than actually following the plan. your post was very motivating and i know i am not a person who is easily discouraged, so i am going to pick myself up by my bootstraps and MOVE ON! thanks jess.

[BabyGotBack]

Re: Be all you can be!

jess,
i really appreciate this post. i am struggling right now more with being frustrated with lack of loss than actually following the plan. your post was very motivating and i know i am not a person who is easily discouraged, so i am going to pick myself up by my bootstraps and MOVE ON! thanks jess.

I agree. I'm not there yet-- (your mindframe) but it's getting better. I'm still sheepish around people who had seen me lose the weight before and then see me now with it all back on. But I know the more time I have under my belt the more confident and proud I will feel about what I've accomplished. Thanks for your post!

[Sheepie]

Re: Be all you can be!

Some of you will find hidden athletes, but others might find the surpressed poet, or painter....The scrapbooker, the dreamer, the creative one....
some of you might find yourself for the first time...How amazing would that be...How absolutely amazing your life can be now...
It will take hard work to find yourself, and time to develop...

I love this! Thank you for recognizing that not everyone is an athlete. I'm trying (not very well) to exercise and I know that exercise is important, but I know that I am not really an athlete. In the past couple of years my dh has taken up pottery and he just bought a kiln and a wheel. I can't wait to try them out!! There's so much out there that is not health or Atkins-related, but at the same time, I think that Atkins might be the key to discovering them!

[apple]

Re: Be all you can be!

Jess---I was expecting the ARMY to be moving in to your place with all your training from the sounds of the name of this thread. LOL.

Reinventing me. hmmm...that sounds so good. Thanks for the reminder and keeping it real!

[misplaced southerner]

Re: Be all you can be!

hi jess. well i ain't runnin' no triathalon but i get your drift girl!!! i really liked this post. i needed to read it tonight. i am in a funk. just too much going on but this too shall pass. i love the me i found and the me who is continuing to emerge. that's it lifestyle girl!

[LooseShoes]

Re: Be all you can be!

It is hard to make changes, and it's amazing how some changes snowball into others. I, personally, am not fond of change--I prefer to be in my nice boring rut and be left alone. I did stick my neck out when I got to the degree of misery over my weight to make an effort to start Atkins. I had the feeling I was not doing it right, so I researched on the internet and found ADBB--I was right, I was doing Atkins my way, not the right way. I've done my best since to try it the right way--a few slips, but I never quit.

I was doing exercise half heartedly, occasionally. I knew DANDR said "exercise is non-negotiable." I found on ADBB several exercise challenges and I haven't looked back since. Will I be a triathlete like Jess? Most likely not, but I'm trying to not shut any doors right now. I did that to myself for too many years.

Now, I'm struggling internally. The weight was something of a barrier to keep from interacting with people on more than a surface level. Now people seem to want to get closer to me, and all I'm wanting to do is throw up different barriers. I have not made any effort to associate with anyone other than family all summer. I've been invited to events and found reasons not to go. You only turn people down so many times before they quit inviting you.

Tomorrow my Singles Sunday School is having a social after church. I said I would bring a salad. I bought the stuff to take. I've talked myself in and out of it several times. I know I need the interaction with other adults. I know why I don't want to put myself out there to risk myself.

To "be all I can be" to me means I need to take the risk, I can't hide behind my weight and my kids anymore. I need to not only go and interact on a surface level, I need to open myself to make some real connections with others. And, if you think I'm going to just hit on the hot guys, I know I'm nowhere ready for romance. I just need to make friends. Besides, most of the men my age that are single have very good reasons why they're still single. This town is very cliquish anyway, and it hasn't been easy since I moved back home to find others to be friends with. Everyone is so busy, or--is it me trying to find another excuse.

So, thanks, Jess--so many times you seem to hit on things I'm struggling with. I can tell that you are inspired by God, and I thank you for having the courage to express what is put inside you. You have truly made a huge difference to me.

[Outback Jess]

Re: Be all you can be!

Thanks for the kind word Caryl.
Finding life for each of us will be different...and it's true, I was athletic as a younger person, and I am now...it's my expression...for others it's something altogether different as I am reading these posts....I think the important thing Is LIVING...
So few people go beyond all they know into new things or return to old things they loved. Maybe I'm fueled by my mother's death and the finality of that....maybe I'm fueled by the freedom her death has brought me. I took care of her, and I was never far from home, and in the last 6 months of her life, I had to give up my life...
I've said no to too many opportunities on her behalf...but I also found ways to keep true to my plans here...
I know being terribly over weight and depressed and lethargic led me to a lifestyle and a food cycle that just trapped me further and further into unhealthiness.
I can't get back the time lost to the couch and that sedendary lifestyle, but I can live from there and be all I can be!

[kelly50]

Re: Be all you can be!

All I can say to your post is AMEN, Jess. You sure have a beautiful way with words. Maybe author will also be a newly found part of you.

[Grant]

Re: Be all you can be!

Dangit, "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Outback Jess again."

Thanks for the great post Jess, it really hit home with me.